Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Francesco Molinari ‘proud’ after becoming first Italian major winner with Carnoustie success

Italy's Francesco Molinari celebrates his win with the Claret Jug.
Italy's Francesco Molinari celebrates his win with the Claret Jug.

Francesco Molinari said he was immensely proud to become the first Italian to win a major after clinching the Claret Jug with a two-shot victory at Carnoustie yesterday.

The world number 15 arrived in Scotland in tremendous form with two wins and two runners-up placings in his last five events.

He started the day three shots off the lead but held his nerve as those around him faltered on a day of blustery conditions.

A bogey-free two under par round of 69 was good enough to earn Molinari the breakthrough major win of his career.

He said: “How do I feel? Just disbelief, to be honest. It is amazing to stand here with the Claret Jug.

“I knew I was coming in with some good golf but my record around here was terrible.

“That didn’t make me too optimistic for the week but I tried to not think about it.

“To go the weekend bogey-free is unthinkable.

“I am very proud. Playing with Tiger was another challenge because of the crowds and everything.

“But I felt ready for the challenge.

“I couldn’t watch Xander (Schauffele) play the last two holes.

“I went to the putting green because I felt sick watching on TV.

“I don’t know how my wife watches me all the time. I couldn’t do it.

“When I look at the names on the Claret Jug, it is the best golfers in history so to be on there is incredible.

“For someone like me coming from Italy, not really a major golfing country, it’s been an incredible journey.”

Molinari’s victory came at a cost as he missed his scheduled flight back to Heathrow, although he was quite content to spend an extra night in Scotland.

He said: “I had an easyJet flight at 9pm to get back home so that’s gone.

“I have a holiday planned for next week, somewhere nice with the family.

“Hopefully, we can still make the holiday and just relax for a few days.”

Molinari hopes his victory will help grow the sport in his homeland.

He joked: “It depends if Ferrari won the Grand Prix. If they won they will probably get the headlines.

“But, no, obviously, it will be massive news in Italy.

“Hopefully, there were a lot of young kids watching on TV today like I was watching Constantino in 1995 coming so close.

“Hopefully, they will get as inspired as I was at the time, watching him vie for the Claret Jug.”